(Top)The beefy rack can hold up to 55 pounds and is adjustable to move cargo or panniers. (Bottom Left) The hinge assembly locks
solidly and folds ;at when open or closed. (Bottom right) This bike is so solidly built, you’ll forget it’s a folding bike. It has structural
braces everywhere.

along. There are four power modes—
Eco, Tour, Sport and Turbo. We usually
liked the Tour mode with the occasional
use of Sport for hills. It would have
to be a really steep hill to want to go
into Turbo, because there’s more than
enough assist in Sport mode most of the
time.

The motor really kicks in when you hit
a pedal cadence of around 20 rpm. That
can be achieved in less than a revolution
of the cranks. The bike accelerates very
well up to 18 mph, but then drops off
very rapidly from there. There’s only a
minute amount of sound coming from
the motor. As a rider, you’ll hear it, but
the people next to you likely won’t.

Bosch motors have both torque and
cadence sensors that are measured

1000 times per second to provideoptimal power. They also sense whenyou shift, so there’s a split-seconddrop in power during shifting. It’s soquick that you have to be paying closeattention to feel it.You can toggle through the variousdisplay options on the Purion displayby holding the minus button down. Weliked setting it to show the range. Asyou set different power levels, it showsan approximation of your remainingrange based on that power level andthe last ;ve miles you’ve ridden. If youhave been climbing a lot of hills, it willobviously be lower than if you’ve beenriding ;ats.The bike is far more stable thanmost folding bikes. Between thebalanced ride and the solid feel ofthe bike, you completely forget thatit’s a folding bike when riding it—it’sthat good! It helps that the motorand battery are in the center of thebike and the overall weight is wellbalanced.

THE VERDICT

Tern has hit this one out of
the park. This is one of the most
impressive folding bikes we’ve
ridden, both in terms of build quality
and components, as well as ride
quality. It’s not aimed at the bargain
hunter; it’s meant for riders who want
quality, durability and fun. It’s a great
commuter, but it’s also a great travel
bike.;■